Almost time for Midnight Madness!!

UK Athletics Dept.

10/14/2005

It's almost time for Midnight Madness. Click the link for everything you'd ever want to know about Midnight Madness at Kentucky. In addition to this article, Matt Jones will be doing a Midnight Madness "blog" on KSR, providing continuous updates for this event.

2005 Madness

As has become tradition, the Kentucky Wildcats tip off the new basketball season
with Big Blue Madness, an event-filled evening, this year for the first time
ever at Rupp Arena. For those arriving early, the doors open at 7:30 p.m..

Fans should
plan to arrive early due to security measures and a number of events in the area that
could affect traffic flow. The night will include games and contests with prizes for all
the winners. The UK band, cheerleaders and dance team also will be performing.

The womens
basketball team will be introduced at 9:15 p.m. and Big Blue fans will catch their first
glimpse of the new Wildcats  including three newcomers  just after 10 p.m.

Approximately
23,000 tickets were distributed in just over 48 hours, including 20,000 in the first 35
minutes of availability this past Saturday morning. The event will be broadcast regionally
on FSN, the Big Blue Network beginning at 9 p.m. and the nation on ESPNU starting at 10
p.m.

Kentucky
Basketball  Unparalleled Tradition

Highlights of UKs previous 102 seasons
include:

 Seven national titles

(1948, '49, '51, '58,
'78, '96, 98)

 The all-time winningest team in college basketball
(1,904 wins)

 The highest all-time winning percentage of any team
in college basketball

-- 76.4% (1,904-583-1)

 Three NCAA runner-up trophies

 13 Final Four appearances

 A national-record 46 NCAA tournament appearances

 43 Southeastern Conference Championships

 25 SEC Tournament titles

 Eleven 30-win seasons, the most in college
basketball

 39 players chosen All-America 57 times

 89
Wildcats selected in the NBA Draft

Practice Begins Friday

Friday, Oct.
14, is the first day Division I college basketball teams can practice. Several years ago,
the NCAA moved the first day of practice to the Saturday closest to Oct. 15. The Wildcats
began preseason workouts in September, concentrating on strength and conditioning as well
as individual instruction.

This year, the
NCAA has adjusted the rules to allow teams full team practice time for four hours per
week, which began in late August. However, teams are restricted from full five-on-five
scrimmaging until the start of regular practice tonight.

The Birth of Big Blue Madness

Former UK coach
Joe B. Hall started Big Blue Madness at the University of Kentucky in 1982. According to
Hall, he was looking for an idea to create more excitement for his 1982-83 squad. So they
invited the fans in for team introductions and a scrimmage at 12:01 a.m. on Oct. 15, 1982.
Madness has now grown at a tremendous pace while also spreading to college and high school
programs across the nation. Lefty Driesell, currently the coach at James Madison, is
credited with conducting the first Midnight Madness when he was the head coach at Maryland
in 1971.

Big Blue Madness Highlights

When Big Blue
Madness started in 1982, it was called "Midnight Special."
More than 8,500 fans attended that first event in 12,000-seat Memorial Coliseum. Admission
was somewhat easier then -- those still arriving near the stroke of 12 a.m. had no problem
getting a seat. But the seed of growth had been planted.

1983 -- More
than 10,000 supporters arrived to watch a highly rated Kentucky team led by Sam Bowie,
Melvin Turpin and Kenny Walker. That team went on to a Final Four finish.

1984 --
Introductions were in order as a new troop of fresh-faced Wildcats took the floor after
the graduations of Bowie, Turpin, Dickey Beal, Tom Heitz and Jim Master.

1985 -- The
Coliseum was rocking as first-year coach Eddie Sutton ushered in a new era.

1986 -- By the
time the band started pounding out the fight song at 11:30 p.m., the fire marshal had
already ordered the doors closed at 9:50 p.m., leaving hundreds of fans outside. Inside,
more than 12,500 fans caught the first glimpse of super-frosh Rex Chapman and the
Wildcats.

1989 -- Rick Pitino was introduced for the first time to a capacity crowd of more than 8,700 (the
Coliseum capacity dropped from 11,500 because of renovation). Fans were caught trying to
sneak in the windows and any opening they could find.

1991 -- Fans
lined up 36 hours in advance as the Cats were "Back in the Spotlight," eligible
for postseason play for the first time in the Pitino era. Doors were closed 45 minutes
after they opened, the earliest ever. All four recruits who attended Madness that year --
Rodrick Rhodes, Jared Prickett, Tony Delk and Walter McCarty -- verbally committed to Kentucky
the next week.

1992 --
"Big Boo Madness - A Monster Bash" fell on Halloween night since the NCAA had
moved the start of practice back to Nov. 1. Once again, doors closed only 45 minutes after
they opened, as a capacity crowd watched Jamal Mashburn and company usher in the new
season.

1993 -- The
first fans arrived on Wednesday -- three days early -- and at 12:01 a.m. on Oct. 29, the
Cats were "Rockin' after Midnight" as a popular senior foursome -- Travis Ford,
Rodney Dent, Jeff Brassow and Gimel Martinez -- led the 1993-94 team into action.

1994 -- The
father and son combination of Robert and Ronald Vallandingham of Smithland, Ky., formerly
of New Albany, Ind., arrived on Oct. 10 -- a full five days early. Coach Pitino was the
headline attraction. Playing to the theme "Born To Be Wild," Pitino arrived in
the gym dressed in leather driving a Harley-Davidson motorcycle.

1995 -- Wally
Clark of Lexington was determined to be "first in line" and arrived 17 days
early. The preseason No. 1 team in the nation was introduced with the premier of "Cat
Fan Forever." Seniors Walter McCarty and Tony Delk swooped down on ropes from high
above dressed as "Cat"man and Robin.

1996 -- Clark
parked himself by the front door on Sept. 10, a full 38 days prior to Big Blue Madness. In
the pre-Madness celebration, the "Back to Tradition" theme honored the
championship teams, including the defending national champions, as well as former stars.

1997 -- Tickets
were passed out five days early  a Monday morning  and were gone within the
first 75 minutes for Late Night with the Cats. It was the official
introduction of Coach Tubby Smith to the Wildcat faithful, as he made his appearance high
above the floor in the second deck.

1998  The
Wildcats, playing to the theme, The Main Event, were dressed in their favorite
professional wrestling outfits and introduced down through the UK crowd. Later, they
celebrated their NCAA Championship from the previous season by unveiling a new
championship banner on the Coliseums Wall of Champions.

1999  The
tickets were again distributed a week early and vanished in 27 minutes for Americas
Team of the Century. Making a very special, and surprise, appearance was newly
crowned Miss America, Heather Renee French, from Maysville, Ky. To thunderous applause,
Coach Tubby Smith escorted her to center court.

2000 
Tickets were offered on the Internet for the first time and all 700 were distributed in 13
minutes. The remaining 8,000 were gone in 10 minutes to those waiting in line. Survivor,
a take-off from the popular television show that summer, was the theme for the annual
event.

2001  A
week before the event, all 8,000 of the tickets were gone in less than an hour after
Internet and window distributions. The Wildcats celebrated the 20th anniversary
of the event by revisiting the Midnight Special, theme, celebrating the last
two decades of Madness.

2002  Kentucky
kicked off the 100th anniversary celebration by bringing back 15 former players
who were introduced with each of the 2002-03 Wildcats. Former greats like Wah Wah Jones,
Sam Bowie and Jim LeMaster were just a few of the players who watched as a giant birthday
cake was wheeled to center court. After the team led the crowd in the singing of Happy
Birthday, longtime Equipment Manager Bill Keightley emerged from the cake.

2003 - UK used
the theme The Future of Kentucky Basketball, spoofing the movie Back to
the Future, as Coach Tubby Smith and and Equipment Manager Bill Keightley appeared
in a Delorean car at the stroke of midnight. The event also saw the first-time
introduction of new womens basketball head coach Mickie DeMoss as she was carried
out by the UK Cheerleaders to the Toni Basil tune Mickey.

2004 
This is Kentucky Basketball was the theme for the 2004 Madness. The fun-filled
evening was packed with contests, specially-made videos and spoof commercials featuring
the UK mens and womens players, plus special guests like former UK players
Kenny Walker, Sam Bowie and Richie Farmer, plus famous fan Ashley Judd. Rajon Rondo was
everybodys choice in the slam dunk exhibition.